


are you challenging me?

by chidorinnn



Series: Domestic Exorcists [5]
Category: Natsume Yuujinchou | Natsume's Book of Friends
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-14
Updated: 2016-05-14
Packaged: 2018-06-08 08:09:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 550
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6846481
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chidorinnn/pseuds/chidorinnn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Seiji's life with Shuuichi and Takashi crumbles, it does so quietly.</p>
            </blockquote>





	are you challenging me?

The news of his father’s death comes as a shock.

It happens on a day so normal, it catches Seiji off guard. He thinks nothing of it when Nanase phones him early in the afternoon when Shuuichi is at work. Takashi is already home, having left school early due to yet another cold – _if only Shuuichi would stop feeding him that ridiculous junk food_ , Seiji grumbles not for the first time – and asleep when the phone call arrives.

“Please return to the estate at your earliest convenience,” Nanase says, too curt for it to be any simple request. 

When Seiji’s life with Shuuichi and Takashi crumbles, it does so quietly.

“What do you mean you have to go back?” Shuuichi demands late at night, a good four hours after returning home. 

“I am to resume my duties as…” Seiji starts, and the words seem to falter in his throat. “… now, as head of the Matoba clan.”

“You can’t be serious.”

“Are you challenging me?”

“What the _hell_?” Shuuichi seethes, clenching his hands into fists. Seiji has never seen him quite so angry. “You… _You_ were the one came to me first. You wanted to get him out–”

“I’m aware,” Seiji replies, clipped.

“So you’re just going to take him back there?” Shuuichi explodes. “So you can be a good little Matoba and do whatever your clan says?”

“Which is why I was going to ask that you–”

“Keep him here? Or bring him back there where the ayakashi won’t give him a single moment’s rest?”

“You had to know we couldn’t just sit here pretending forever.”

“ _Pretending_ –”

A small cough cuts their argument short. Takashi stands at the door, the moonlight making him look even paler than usual. His expression is solemn as he leans tiredly against the wall. “Are you fighting…?” he asks, his voice shaking.

They should have been more careful, Seiji thinks. _He thinks this is about him…_

Shuuichi quickly smiles at him reassuringly. “Of course not, Takashi,” he says. “By the way, how are you feeling? Should you be out of bed?”

Shuuichi’s attempt to change the subject is so pitiful that even Takashi doesn’t pick up on it. “Go back to sleep, Takashi-kun,” Seiji says quietly. 

Takashi nods slowly, reluctantly, and then shuffles back to his room. Seiji sighs, massaging his temples. “I don’t have a choice,” he whispers. “My clan needs me.”

“ _Takashi_ needs you,” says Shuuichi. 

“But he has you.”

Shuuichi falls slient, the lizard crawling down his face and then stopping at the side of his neck. “He can live with me,” he says slowly. “He’s getting older – he doesn’t need us constantly hovering over him. The ayakashi… The ayakashi will be a problem, but we can work around them. My schedule can be hectic–”

“I can watch over him then,” Seiji says. “I’d rather he not stay at the estate for extended periods of time, though. There’s no telling what the other clansmen will say or do to him.”

“No exorcist meetings,” Shuuichi says sharply.

“Not for Takashi-kun,” Seiji agrees.

With a quiet sigh, Shuuichi makes his way over to the window and stares up at the moon. “We’re really doing this, huh? We’re moving.”

Seiji presses his forehead to Shuuichi’s shoulder and exhales slowly. “I hope it’s for the best.”


End file.
